Monday, April 16, 2012

12x12 panels starting to bloom

Back in January, 100  12x12 in. birch panels arrived in the gallery, wrapped in plastic and naked. Building artists and our members took them, one or two at a time. Many commented that they planned to use this as an opportunity to experiment with a new idea or technique; others were looking forward to working smaller, (or larger) than they usually did. Some discovered that they really loved working on panel as opposed to canvas or paper; for others it was an adjustment.


These panels are the one unifying feature for our upcoming show'12x12'. We've asked our member artists (over 40 at this count) and all the artists who have studio space in the building we share at Fountain Street Studios to contribute one or two pieces on these 12x12 in. panels for this show. There is no other common 'theme', subject matter, or medium. Each is for sale at $200, a real value, and a great way to discover a new favorite artist!


(Roy Perkinson, Grove Between Fields, oil on panel)



The panels are starting to return, like birds in the spring, bright with color, each wonderfully different. Based on what we've seen so far, this year's crop is even better than last year's (we had a similar show, 10x10, last April, which was very successful). 

'12X12' 
opens on April 20th 
(please note, we'll be closed Thurdsay April 19th for installation)
Scout Austin, Not one Without the Other,
mixed media

We'll be posting pictures of more panels as they arrive on our facebook page, so check back often for  previews.
Kay Hartung, Biocell 3, encaustic and mixed media

Friday, April 6, 2012

The Visitor

 Last Thursday, we were gearing up for another quiet weekday (although the gallery has been open Thursdays since November, it’s still a pretty well-kept secret). A couple wandered through, and as we chatted with them, we noticed a woman quietly working her way through the exhibit. We introduced ourselves and asked whether she was a first time visitor, or if perhaps she had other business in the building. The woman told us she had come specifically to see the show, and as we talked, she introduced herself as Cate McQuaid, art critic for the Boston Globe.

 She’d come because she’d been invited- by the artist, by colleagues and friends of the artist, by other members, by us! (‘Enough, already!’ perhaps, but she came, didn’t she?) That friendly persistence is what piqued her curiosity, enticed her to drive out to the wilds of Metrowest, and got her in the door.

But she didn’t know what to expect. She told us she hadn’t come with the intention of writing a review, but rather a desire to see what all the fuss was about.

Cate spent quite a while carefully and systematically examining the work, and after few minutes, began taking notes. She worked with a genuine, purposeful approach, and asked thoughtful questions about Nan and her work. Before she left, she told us that after seeing the work she had decided to review the show, and asked us to send images of certain pieces to the newspaper.

“Many of Nan Hass Feldman’s post-impressionist-style landscapes and cityscapes at Fountain Street Fine Art pop with bold designs and contours”, the review reads. Fishing on the Blue Li River” shows fishermen in low boats, zigzagging over the rippled water. The artist cleverly outlines reflections in the water’s shimmer. These lines Feldman traces into the paint give her works a jazzy rhythm.
 She also takes risks with hues; the cypresses in the foreground of “The Burgundy Hills of Puygiron” are salmon and pink, as well as green. Hills beyond them resemble so many quilts mussed on an unmade bed. The burgundy and green slopes beyond ripple like ocean waves”. Read the full review here.

For Nan Hass Feldman, having her show reviewed in the Globe was really exciting and validating. For the gallery, a review by an official representative of the Boston art scene gives us more credibility and legitimacy, and helps establish Fountain Street Fine Art as one of the few places this side of Rte. 128 where you can experience the best in local art.

Dreaming East, Dreaming West runs through Sunday, April 15th.
Gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday, 11-5.
Please note, we will be closed on Easter Sunday April 8th